Software developers generally use integrated development environments (“IDEs”) to edit, build, and debug applications. An example of an IDE is MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO, which is a software development tool that is provided by MICROSOFT CORPORATION. IDEs provide a user interface that developers can use to develop software components and applications. IDEs generally include developer tools, such as a source code editor, a compiler and/or interpreter, a build-automation tool, and a debugger. IDEs may also include a version control system and other tools to simplify construction of a graphical user interface (“GUI”).
IDEs can have various containers for constituents of applications, such as image files, source code files, libraries, and so forth. As examples, IDEs can have solution and project containers. A solution container can contain, among other things, one or more project containers. The project containers can contain constituents of applications. The constituents of the applications can be “built” by the IDE's developer tools (e.g., compiler), such as by translating human-readable source code to machine-executable object code. Each project container can be said to be a different project type because it can provide support for a different programming language. Examples of programming languages are C#, C++, MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC, PERL, and so forth. A project container (or simply, “a project”) is generally defined by a project file. The project file can indicate items associated with the project, such as various properties associated with the project, files that define the components the project contains, and so forth.
Developers employ IDEs to build software components, such as controls and add-ins. A control is generally a component that a developer adds to a form to enable or enhance a user's interaction with the form. As an example, a developer can add a Portable Document Format (“PDF”) reader control to a web form so that a viewer of the web form can view a PDF document. An add-in is a component that a user can add to an application (“host application”) to supplement the host application's functionality. As an example, a user can use an add-in with a MICROSOFT OFFICE host application (e.g., MICROSOFT WORD) to create a PDF document based on contents of the host application.
A computing device may store multiple IDE configurations, such as a standard, fully featured IDE and other instances of the IDE that are configured for use with particular applications. As examples, a computing device may store a standard, fully featured IDE, an instance of the IDE for use with MICROSOFT OFFICE applications, and other instances of the IDE for use with applications developed by other software companies. When a vendor of the IDE desires to modify the IDE, such as to fix a bug, release a patch, or update to a new version, the vendor may need to communicate with the parties responsible for releasing each different configuration or instance. This can cause logistical problems because each instance of the IDE may need to be separately patched or upgraded. Moreover, each instance occupies system resources, such as disk storage and registry space. However, installing a single IDE is problematic because each application may need an instance of the IDE that is uniquely configured for use with the application.